Winter Getaway 2020: Part 1, MEMPHIS

Thinking we were leaving the cold behind, we departed Monday, February 3rd at 4:30 am.  The temperatures did not change a whole lot as we headed thru Illinois, but grateful to pull into our Memphis Airbnb before dark, dropped off our luggage and went a few miles for some Chinese!
Our friends Karen U. and Kerri B. gave us many ideas for our 2 day stay...so we plunged right in on Tuesday!

GRACELAND was our first stop. Talking to some other tourists, we mentioned that even in a place that should be celebratory of all that Elvis accomplished--it felt a bit somber.  My takeaways?  He was a gifted & intelligent man who was not expecting all the trappings that fame brought. He loved his family. He tried to give back. He loved to rest with his horses and friends in this place.  His grandmother instilled in him an early faith.  My other "takeaway"?  A 40 song CD for our travels!!



SUN STUDIO was a blast from the past, all kinds of pictures of 50's and 60's up and comers. I particularly loved the shot of Elvis and Johnny (one of my Dad's favorites, not sure he would have approved of this friendship in Elvis's early days of moving and grooving!!).



Since we didn't relish the thought of my directing Bill in our RV van through the unfamiliar streets of downtown Memphis ..we opted for a Lyft driver who dropped us at the studio; the downside? Walking one mile in POURING rain to THE PEABODY to see the infamous Duck Parade. It happens daily at 9 and 5.  The story goes that the hotel owner brought home his live duck decoys after a hunting jaunt.  Being a bit inebriated, he chose to dump the ducks in the indoor hotel fountain.  To his amazement, the guests loved it.  They hired a Duckmaster to train the ducks, and The Peacock is now in its 87th year of this very unusual tradition.  One of my highlights was chatting with the piano player there, who asked if I wanted to join him in a gospel song--he started Amazing Grace.  It was lovely!  I was hiding behind the piano so I don't think anyone noticed or heard...😅. We did eventually dry out somewhat and very much enjoyed our Ribs and Brisket at the Rendezvous, another one of Memphis's highlights.

  

 

  

After checking out on Wednesday morning, we headed to the National Civil Rights Museum, a non-profit located at the previous Lorraine Hotel where MLK was shot & killed.  This was not only a story of him, but of the movement he inspired and helped birth:  non-violent activism to bring awareness to the country of the inequalities of education, of work opportunities, of human kindness and justice to all.  Even though I was living through this era...it did not touch me in small-town Michigan.  I am only now becoming much more aware of the racial divide still in existence and how it has taken decades to actually flesh out the laws that were enacted to truly make non-whites equal, not just in word (law) only. One more rib sandwich at Central BBQ and we were on the road to Shreveport.....or so we thought.